The Thank You Wave is Good

A small, yet enduring piece of edict on the roadways

A tale of two driving experiences:

Experience A:

• You are flying down the three-lane highway in the rightmost lane.

• An exit is coming up.

• A car alongside you in the middle lane wants to get over to exit.

• You note the other car’s turn signal.

• You slow down.

• The other car enters your lane and exits.

Experience B:

• You are flying down the three-lane highway in the rightmost lane.

• An exit is coming up.

• A car alongside you in the middle lane wants to get over to exit.

• You note the other car’s turn signal.

• You slow down.

• The other car enters your lane and a hand comes out of the driver side window and waves.

• The other car exits.

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Experience B is miles better. It is a non-verbal communication that separates us from all other living beings. It is gratefulness conveyed.

It is so good, it can be exhilarating.

Note: Not getting it can be angering:

Driving on freeways is dangerous. It is ripe, fertile ground for road rage. The hand wave fights against that, it conveys friendship and cooperation.

May the thank you wave never leave us, even if our cars become self-driving.

The thank you wave is good.

NOTE:

In other countries I have learned that the thank you wave can be replaced by a communicative flashing of the hazard lights.

I heartily endorse this: